Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1887-01-06
CURIOUS CARGO.
Nuts that Are Brought from South Amer
To BE Made lnts Buttons-The Fruit ~
Beautiful Palm SAID.

pier CdH 10 sSeh oh any udy sls 'Ol
shallops from far and near. tt papa
tertaining spot to the searcher frllsbe.
nation. The ends of the earth p.
these vessels are brought into prsb
to this city, and consequently in,
York and the busy world beyono;n
Empire stores from one of the la
the many warehousing establiss.
in Brooklyn, and the variety of
from tropical countries that are u. n
ed there is not to be surpassed even
the New York storehouses. In fact bro
lyn has larger warehouses than New I'd
and very much of this sort of businl
for that city is done over here becsI
of the superiority of accommodation
vessels and the cheaper rents.
A reporter wandered about the WI i,
of the Empire stores the other
around heaps of yellow Yucatan
and pink Brazilian bar-wood. core
Bueuos Ayres hides and stacks of u
oocoanuts, in pursuit of a story. :
found it at length on board of HI
some brigantine, the West Wind, wi
had Just come in from South Ameri,
voyage. Her matches were off and show
that she was laden to the decks, both fol
and aft, with cargo of little obiecI
nearly as large as hens eggs, of souI
what triangular form, and with dad
brown, rough surface. Tackling "A
being rugged and men with large scoI
shoyels were beginning to unload the ed
Gus freight.
"What are those things?" asked the /
porter of a swarthy-complesioned N
who was smoking a Spanish cigaretse 1
the ships poop.
Nuts, he replied sententiously. /
''Nuts?n
the man laughed.
what kind are they?"
"Why, ivory nuts, TO be sure. Dob
you know what vegetable ivory is? II
coming to be all the rage in this cOunhX
Few people can tell articles made out
it from real ivory. Look at this IN
man held up nut that had been crack
apart. The brown skin was very III
and the interior was exceedingly ha#
and as white and glossy as ivory.
truth, it appeared to be animal iycM
but its shape at once forbade entera
ing the notion.
Few names have ever been better n
piled than vegetable ivory" cort r.
the swarthy man, as he lighted
cigarette. Its one of the rallro q
discoveries of commerce" ind ID NJ
"What is made of itY' N IN rs
Everything that you make is So IN
l 1,+s
There are a hundred dozen of n,no N
made of it in this country to-daIIomr
one is made of real ivory, and rs
ners are working it up into cane
brella handles and small trinkets s""
resembling true ivory that a novice N
tell the difference.
Are many nuts importedY" ga 81
"Well, | should say yes. Englandlb4
about five million of them every yeae
America is a good second. Good II
fortunes have been made here off
and the trade is growing all the t ~
They can be worked in all sorts of "
but they go mainly into buttons Il
iewelry. Novel idea of buttons grow
on trees, eh:n
"Where do they grown
son a beautiful palm on the Ande
plains in Peru and that quarter of Son
America. It's leaves are feathery tuf
sometimes forty feet high. 1t bears
fruit as large as a mans head. This fri
is filed with nuts, and it is the kerue
of these nuts that you now see befo
you. When green, they are soft. NJ
they are harder than marble. This III
ton-making business is a sort of M
departure. 1t has come up since l wes
into the trade. Most of the importh
are interested in the button factories IL
and in this way some of them are mako
big money. The factories are seated
all over the eastern United States"
"Are the buttons made by hand?"
mot much. We've got away past thE
It's beautiful as well as complicats
work. I'll tell you something about Il
process. In the first place the nuts
stored in warm bins in the factories.
fast as wanted they are placed in racg
in tae drying rooms, where they are kes
from six to eight days, according to II
quantity of dampness in them. UsualI
there are about four hundred pounds
dampness to the ton. From provide
with teeth, and tumbled for the purpos
of removing their shueks. They Il
then removed to the main room whdl
bits of shucks remaining are carefully \
spected again and any little points 4
shucks still remain are removed with
knife. Then they are taken to the II
yers, who cut off slaks from the outsls
of the nuts varying in thickness and II
according to the kind of button desl
the centers of the nuts being hollow
not be utilized for button making
are burned. The sawed stock is ia
to the second drying-room, where the
naming water Is removed. When
the nuts are sorted into fifteen sizes
placed i'll as many bins in the rear of
lather. From the bins they are taken
wanted by the turner's. An the
tons are turned they are separated fra
the dust and are taken to the girls,
whom they are carefully sorted, and
the imperfect buttons removed. n
good ones are carried to the machil
for edging, and after the edges are ia
off they are secured in iron drums d
tanning chalk and water. After the SEQ
ing they are placed in racks and dri
after which they are distributed in ca
of drawers, according to their sizes Il
styles, They are taken from the draw 3
as wanted to fill orders. After bt
weighed for orders the buttons Is
drilled and the holes countersunkE
prevent the thread from being III